Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Matthew Szlachetka, who discusses the creative process behind his new track, “The Heart of My Hometown,†as well as his goals for the future and how he wants his music to affect people.
Review Fix: How was “Heart of My Hometown” written? What inspired it?
Matthew Szlachetka: I wrote the song with my good friend and writing parter Jamie Kent. We initially started writing the song right after his two farewell shows in Massachusetts before he moved to Nashville in the fall of 2014. We’re both originally from Western Massachusetts. This song is really special for me because I grew up in a part of the country that had the ever familiar “main street” and two or three best friends that a lot of people had growing up as well. Over the past 10 years of touring throughout America, I keep running into towns and meeting people that resonate with me and remind me of where I’m from. It’s a really nice sentiment to have in your heart when you’re not home that often and don’t get a chance to see your family. The towns that I return to on tour and the people that have become really close with me in a sense have become my second family which is a wonderful thing to have in your life, especially when you’re in the car by yourself for so many hours.
Review Fix: How did you put this backing band together?
Szlachetka: Derek Brown (drums), Shiben Bhattacharya (bass), Dave “Mustang” Lang (piano) are some of my “normal guys” that I play with whenever I do full band shows. I’m really tight with these guys and really fortunate to play with them on a semi-regular basis. David Bianco and I wanted a 2nd guitar part for some good counterpoint on the song, so I called my other friend Doug Pettibone to put some tremolo guitar on the tune. He also played pedal steel and mandolin on a bunch of other songs on the album. David also had some pretty defined keyboard parts in his head that he wanted to hear on the song so he called in Kevin Savigar who he has worked with a lot over the years on various Rod Stewart albums. Since I wrote the song with Jamie Kent, I wanted him to sing the lower harmonies and Megan Slankard is another great friend who I frequently tour wth that I felt would be a perfect fit for the high harmony.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Szlachetka: Most of the time, since I’m on the road so much I have to catalog all my ideas. Whether it’s a riff, lyric, melody or chord progression, I normally save things in my voice memos or notes section of my phone. Voice activation saves your life when you have long drives and an idea pops into your head.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?
Szlachetka: If I had to use one word it would definitely be Americana. I grew up with such a broad variety of musical genres that ranged from folk, blues, country, rock & roll and jazz. It all kind of fused into a musical gumbo for what I like to play and write.
Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2016?
Szlachetka: My main goal for the rest of 2016 is to assemble the proper team around my upcoming album so that way it gets the type of release it deserves.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?
Szlachetka: Well, I like to write songs that will resonate with people. I feel like as a writer, you successfully do your job when you can translate something personal and/ or a social commentary type of situation where an audience can relate to you and also take away their own personal feeling from the song.
Review Fix: Any video planned for this track?
Szlachetka: The video is getting edited right now and we’ll most likely be released in September. Can’t wait for y’all to see the footage.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Szlachetka: Well, aside from a hefty tour schedule for the rest of the year and releasing the video for “Heart Of My Hometown,” we’re also going to release a second single in the fall. Most likely Aug/ Nov 2016. I want to have a constant stream of content being released to build up for the full-length album which will come out Feb/ March 2016.
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